Nav Social Menu

homekeeping

Howdy! I just completed a simple organization project that made a huge difference in my kitchen, so I thought I’d share it with you. I completely overhauled my spice organization and drawers! And it was easy and fun.

Here’s a little back story: we moved into a new house in January. We were blessed to build a new prefab home on acreage, and we are loving the country life again. (I will try to post more house pics as we get into the groove and settle in. We are on the verge of listing our old house, so as you can imagine, we haven’t completed many projects in the new place yet!) Our build was a budget build, so we spent money on all the important structural items and things that would be difficult to change later – roofing, insulation, 9′ ceiling heights, windows, walkout basement, etc. – and didn’t upgrade any finishes. So our house is a beautifully blank page waiting to be written on. The rooms are clean, open, and ready to be decorated and/or finished.

That includes the kitchen. We got the basic cabinets and countertops, bought our own appliances, and plan to customize over time. What we didn’t realize is that these cabinets came with extremely shallow drawers – out of 22 drawers, only ONE is more than 2.5″ deep! That’s 21 very shallow drawers to work with. Examples of items that no longer fit in drawers: ladles, cooking spatulas, most serving utensils, stacks of dish towels more than 2 high, and spice jars! It might seem trivial, but the drawers have become a waste of space and a big source of frustration. A lovely, huge kitchen with so much wasted space is a kitchen begging for some tweaking! I discovered that I could lie all the jars flat and they would fit, but since I accumulated them over time, they were many sizes and shapes. Putting them in any sort of order was impossible. And the round ones rolled! I had labeled all of my jars on the lids, so the jars were no longer labeled properly. (This isn’t a problem for me as much as for my children – my older children like to cook and bake, and they aren’t always able to identify herbs and spices by sight, as I am.)

So I did a little thinking, measuring, and planning. I discovered that 4 oz. mason jars fit perfectly in my drawers, and they were very affordable. (That link is to Amazon, but if you have an Ace Hardware nearby, I recommend buying them there via free store pickup. It’s the cheapest option for any size of mason jar. I’m not affiliated with Ace; just a happy customer.)

Chalkboard Con-Tact paper. I have lots left and so many ideas!

Once my jars arrived, I measured the lids and decided to buy a cheap roll of chalkboard contact paper and punch out perfect circles for the lids. (FYI: 2″ circles fit perfectly on regular size mason jar lids.) I wanted the look of chalkboard labels, but I didn’t want the labels to rub off easily, so I decided to buy oil-based Sharpie paint pens to make the label permanent. (This project only uses a very small amount of the chalkboard paper, so I have lots left to make new labels, if needed. If you want to make your labels erasable but semi-permanent, you could try wet erase chalk markers, like these. I didn’t want my messy little sous chefs to accidentally wipe things off with their greasy fingers, so I decided not to go that route. They may be more durable than I suspect, though! If you try them, do comment and let me know.)

Mason Jar Spice Jar DIY

Wash all jars and lids. I ran the jars through the dishwasher but hand washed the lids. Allow to dry completely.

Punch out as many chalkboard labels as you will need for your spice drawer/cabinet. I needed 36. TIP: flip the punch over to the clear side to help you line up the punch with as little waste possible.

Prime & shake your marker, and do a few practice labels. Your handwriting will be very visible, so make sure it looks the way you like.

Label your lids, transfer herbs/spices to new jars, and organize in your drawer or on your shelf! I had kid helpers, so we worked a few jars at a time so as not to lose track of what was actually in each jar. I was delighted that my kids chose to alphabetize the spices, as that’s what I would’ve done if they hadn’t.

Howdy, folks! How’ve you been? Now that it’s April, we’re finally enjoying a day or two of spring weather once in a while. (Of course, it’s supposed to snow tonight. Longest. Winter. Ever! But 50s and sunny on Sunday, so I can endure it.) I hope the weather is delightful wherever you are.

We have one Sh-Mop and 12 cotton terry mop heads. I love this thing. (affiliate link)

So I finally put together a bathroom cleaning checklist for my older girls, ages nine and 11. I think this list is appropriate for children ages seven and up, give or take. I thought I would share it here for two reasons: 1 – It may help you or be useful, and 2 – You can critique it and tell me what I forgot. Download it here:

Our bathroom cleaner is either a natural cleaner purchased at the store on sale or a homemade one made with half vinegar, half water + essential oils of choice (I like tea tree, orange, and/or lemon for bathroom cleaning) in a spray bottle.

We do use standard sanitizing wipes from the store. There are more natural versions, such as those made by Seventh Generation, that we have also used, but they get expensive. This is one of the only places you will see us use disposable, conventional cleaning products. Viruses and bathroom germs make me a little crazy.

Seventh Generation Natural Sanitizing Wipes (affiliate link)

We don’t make or buy a special window/mirror cleaner because a microfiber cloth works great. I have friends that use Norwex (also microfiber) cloths, too, and they like them. I just use the ones I already have. Dry microfiber is great for removing streaks and cloudiness.

Lest you think I only change my hand towel once a week, allow me to reassure you: I change it once every 1-2 days, whenever I’m in there and thinking about it. With five children and only one main bathroom, it gets gross quickly, so I just change it myself.

Why don’t the kids scrub the toilet and mop the floors? Good question. They are capable and those items could easily be incorporated into the kid list. But for our house, this works best. I like to mop the floors all at once myself or with family help, and it becomes a hassle to ask them to get out the Schmop and make a floor cleaning solution in the sink separately from when I do it. Just easier to fill the sink once a week myself and do all the hard floors at once (and our whole house is hard floors, by the way). As for the toilet, I’ve found that children often splash more germs out of the toilet than they actually clean, especially when they’re younger. Definitely something they should be trained to do, but again, I tend to clean the toilet several times a week myself when I’m thinking of it or noticing it. Takes me a minute or less. I think children of this age can easily be be taught to do these tasks, if that works better for your family.

If you find this checklist useful and would like more, or if you have critical feedback to leave, please comment. I wanna know how your kids are cleaning the bathrooms.

I just want to re-iterate how cool it is that this place is local to me. I mean, check out the classes that you can take there! (A class at Tillers would be the perfect gift for this newbie farmgirl. Just sayin’.)

A description of Tillers International, from their website:

Tillers International is a 501(c)3 IRS non-profit organization for international rural development, specializing in farming with oxen. Based in Scotts, Michigan, USA at our Cook’s Mill Learning Center, Tillers offers classes in appropriate technology farming techniques, draft animal power, blacksmithing and metal work, timber framing, woodworking, cheesemaking, and many other farming and artisanal skills. Tillers also hosts interns, both international and domestic, and international guests for intensive periods of hands-on training. Whether you’re looking for a new hobby, a new land or skill-based livelihood, or an opportunity to contribute your knowledge and skills to an international project, Tillers welcomes you and offers myriad unique, educational opportunities.

Now’s the perfect time to remind you locals about the 2009 Southwest Michigan Harvest Festival, hosted by Tillers, on Sunday, September 20. We went last year and had the best time. It’s like what you might imagine an old time fair was like, with the heritage breed animals, the hayrides, the farm demonstrations…only add in the best of local foods, great speakers, info sessions, etc. I’m excited to go back and see the blacksmithing demonstrations again, as well as take better notes on which local farmers are selling heritage breed sheep, goats, pigs, and cows.

Our new front loader (Bosch 500 Plus) is broken. The clothes and water are locked in there, and the machine won’t drain it or let me get in. It keeps telling me “E:13,” very impatiently, and I can’t seem to communicate how very much I’d like to know what that means. At least it’s stopped beeping at me now.

Thankfully, we’re under warranty, and the repair folks are stopping by tomorrow afternoon. A front loader won’t get moldy after 24-30 hours of standing water, will it? I hope not.

For years now, I’ve had this struggle with trying to decide where in my day getting dressed fits. See, my kids aren’t super awake and jumping out of bed every morning, so letting them eat in their pajamas gets them energized for dressing and making beds afterward.

However. Bedsheets and bedclothes are to be kept clean, no? So that the dirt of the day is not brought into bed, and we aren’t changing our sheets and pajamas daily? So if the kids (and I, for that matter) wear our pajamas out to the main living areas to start the day, are we not exposing our previously clean pajamas to the potential of breakfast food, floor dust, etc.?

Maya loves having a checklist of things to do in the morning, and thrives on lists of the day’s activities. So earlier this year, I made her a list of things to do upon rising. This involved going potty, brushing hair, getting dressed, making bed, folding pajamas, etc. Initially, she hopped right into the routine each day, and was downstairs in a jiffy. But as the newness wore off, the routine took longer and longer. When she’s really tired in the morning, it’s all I can do to get her out of bed. Once she’s fed and awake, doing the tasks is much easier.

All that to ask: Is it better to have dressing before or after breakfast in a family’s schedule?

I’ve been thinking a lot about green housing options as I frantically search online for a house or land for us to buy. Of course, my dream would be building (that is, hiring someone else to build) a moderately sized green house on lots of land (half pasture, half wooded). But our budget doesn’t jive with that, exactly, at this point in our lives. (Staying home on one missionary’s salary requires some sacrifices. I’m happy to make them; it just requires more creativity and resourcefulness when shopping for just about anything green.)

(And actually, we could build a wonderful, sustainable home on some nice land, if we didn’t have to follow building code.)

Anyways. We’d love to move somewhere that we could, ideally, stay for a while. Not have to move in five or ten years, unless God calls us to a new place. But the houses I’m seeing in our price range, with even just a little bit of land, are not places I’d like to call home long-term. We’re willing to do work, but some things aren’t even worth working on. We’re thinking of buying some land and building our own house, and we think it can be done. But the sacrifices would be great, and the work would be difficult.

Sometimes, I think the greenest house is one that already exists. Nothing goes into the landfill during a wasteful building process. No energy needed to build it. It’s already there, and by remodeling it in the greenest way, we are making use of something that’s already there (and that someone else may have bulldozed and tossed). We can reuse as much as possible, and ensure that any remodeling follows strict guidelines for our family’s health, as well as the environment.

For us, the biggest problems with buying a house that already exists:

Older homes are more likely to have hazards that have to be remediated in order to be safe for our family, especially our children (i.e. lead paint, asbestos).

Homes that already exist on land that we would like to own cost a lot of money.

But I want to know what YOU think. In general, is the greenest house one that already exists, or one that you create?

The title pretty much sums it up. Who can find me a worship song/hymn that is about the moon? Or, at the very least, mentions the moon? The best I’ve got right now is Great Is Thy Faithfulness, which has the lyrics “Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above” in the second verse.

(We’re trying to focus on one song each week during homeschooling. The last two weeks were Creation–This Is My Father’s World. This week is the Sun unit–Shine, Jesus, Shine. And next week will be the Moon.)

Tomorrow is Maya’s first day of kindergarten. She’s very, very excited. I’ve told her that it’s not going to be much different than usual–just a bit more planned instruction and activities. But still, I can tell that she really wanted/needed an “official” First Day, so tomorrow is it. October 1st! (Hurray for homeschool! Where else could you start when you want, go at your own pace, take a nice long break to welcome a new baby, and make it all fit your schedule and lifestyle?)

More over at the girls’ blog. I’m feeling a bit scattered, as the house is cluttered and there are cleaning chores to be done…no energy…and the mess distracts my brain. Pray for me to focus on the girls and let the rest worry about itself. And be patient with me if I don’t get to my blogging list for a while. 🙂

Primary Sidebar

Hi there! I'm Serina, homeschooling mom to seven and wife to a pastor/engineer. We live on a grassy knoll at the edge of a very brambly wood. We like to grow and create - art, plants, animals, memories, stories, songs. We are makers, builders, writers, readers, thinkers, and dreamers. Literature, music, and food are central to our home. Welcome to my online journal.